Driven Back to Eden · Chapter
Good Bargains in Maple Sugar explained
Mr.
What happens
Mr. Jones helps the family clean the basement and advises on chickens, then reveals a root cellar full of produce from the Jamison estate. He suggests tapping sugar maple trees for syrup, offering his son Junior's help in exchange for sugar. The children eagerly embrace the new project.
Themes in this chapter
Community and Neighborliness
Mr. Jones generously offers help, advice, and resources, embodying neighborly support.
Self-Reliance and Hard Work
The family cleans the basement, plans to tap trees, and learns to make use of available resources.
Characters to notice
- Mr. Jones
Acts as mentor, advises on chickens and maple sugaring, offers Junior's help.
- Merton
Excitedly compares carrots in the root cellar to a goldmine.
- Junior
Mentioned as understanding the sugaring business and available to help.
- Papa
Agrees to Mr. Jones's proposals and decides to take the children to the auction.
Key passages
“You don’t want any partition here at present, only a few perches for the fowls. There’s a fairish shed, you remember, in the upper barnyard, and when ’tain’t very cold or stormy the cow will do well enough there from this out.”
Mr. Jones advises that a simple perch for chickens is sufficient for now, and the cow can stay in the upper barnyard shed except in bad weather.
Practical advice on farm animal housing.
“Why not tap ’em, and set a couple of pots b’ilin’ over your open fire? You’d kill two birds with one stone; the fire’d keep you warm, and make a lot of sugar in the bargain.”
Mr. Jones suggests tapping the maple trees and boiling the sap over the open fire, which would both warm the house and produce sugar.
Introduces the maple sugaring project.